AIC-CERT had “boots on the ground” Friday, August 5, 2011 to assist the Ward County Historical Society in Minot, North Dakota. The call for volunteers went out on Tuesday afternoon. By Thursday, we had an Incident Action Plan, a three-person team, and airline tickets, car rental, and hotel rooms booked. This is a real testament to the dedication of the team volunteers and to the maturing nature of AIC-CERT. Go to www.conservation-us.org/cert.
Category: Topics
Status of Preserve America and Federal Historic Preservation Funding
As of early August, 867 Preserve America Communities have been designated, 34 Preserve America Stewards recognized, 20 Presidential Awards bestowed, and more than $21 million awarded for 281 competitive grant projects throughout the country. While Preserve America Grants were not funded in FY 2011, and it appears unlikely that they will be funded for FY 2012, the First Lady continues to be engaged in the program with the formal designation of Preserve America Communities and Stewards.
The U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Interior and Environment Appropriations approved the FY 2012 Interior spending bill on July 7, 2011; it was approved by the full committee on July 12. The bill zeroed out funding for Preserve America and Save America’s Treasures grants (as proposed in the President’s budget) and also included a 9 percent cut ($5 million) to the Historic Preservation Fund (HPF) from $54.5 million to $49.5 million ($42.5 for State Historic Preservation Offices [SHPOs] and $7 million for Tribal Historic Preservation Offices [THPOs]). The ACHP would receive $5.498 million for its operations (an 11 percent cut from the FY 2012 Administration request). All of these numbers reflect FY 2009 levels.
The proposed bill would provide overall funding for the Interior Department of $9.9 billion, $720 million below the agency’s current budget and $1.2 billion below the President’s FY 2012 request. This translates into the following:
- A $129 million cut for the National Park Service (NPS) down to $2.5 billion.
- National recreation and preservation programs, which include the National Register of Historic Places and National Heritage Areas, were funded at $49.363 million (a net reduction of about 15 percent from $57.87 million in FY 2011).
- American Battlefield Protection Grants were funded at $2 million under NPS land acquisition, an increase of $640,000 from FY 2011.
Assuming that the full House of Representatives will vote to accept the bill as proposed, the focus will shift to the Senate and possibly a conference committee to reconcile differences and try to come up with an agreed budget. Given the current political climate, it is quite possible that a final budget will not be in place until well after the start of the new fiscal year on Oct. 1, 2011. A stop-gap measure may have to be negotiated.
An earlier “dear colleague” letter circulated by Reps. Michael Turner and Russ Carnahan as co-chairs of the House Historic Preservation Caucus had asked for support for the HPF totaling $50 million for SHPOs, $11 million for THPOs, and $9 million for fully competitive, non-earmark grant programs “like Save America’s Treasures and Preserve America.”
Philadelphia Area Conservation Association – Summer Update
PACA has been working hard this summer to develop our organization and plan events for the fall. We will be distributing PACA’s Bylaws and Officer Descriptions and a working calendar for the rest of 2011 shortly. In the meanwhile, for those of you who were unable to attend, please find Christie Romano’s summary of our event in May that featured Sam Anderson below. Photos of the event are also on our Flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/63294574@N03/
All the best,
PACA
__________________________________________
PACA Inaugural Event Summary, Christie Romano
On May 24th, 2011, the Philadelphia Area Conservation Association (PACA) held its first event at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. The evening’s guest speakers were Samuel Anderson and Eddie Gormley from Samuel Anderson Architects NYC whose talk was titled “Rules and Wisdom of Conservation Lab Design with Insights into Museum Expansion Projects.”
The architects discussed conservation lab renovations completed at the MOMA, the Morgan Library & Museum, Harvard University’s Library, the Allen Memorial Art Museum at Oberlin College, as well as projects within the Gardner Museum and the Barnes Foundation. Sam and Eddie shared insights into designing paper, paintings, objects, textiles, and analytical spaces for conservators by gathering information regarding conservators’ needs and challenges, visiting surrounding labs, working to create sustainability plans, and finally executing renovations based on the input received and institutional stipulations. A reception, sponsored by George Blood Audio & Video, followed in the Mosaic Gallery. The event was well-attended with almost 50 attendees coming from various local institutions and backgrounds. Many of the attendees shared ideas and enthusiasm for future meetings.
National Archives Conservators Reveal Previously Illegible Text in Magna Carta
Read the full July 20, 2011 press release about the conservation treatment, re-encasement and public display of Magna Carta conducted by National Archives senior conservators Terry Boone and Morgan Zinsmeister. The project manager is supervisory conservator Catherine Nicholson.
A short documentary video produced by the National Archives chronicles the document’s conservation treatment during which ultra-violet photography revealed previously illegible writing in the text of the document that had been obliterated by water damage at some unknown time in the past.
Participate in Zorbix humidification sheet product survey
Artifex Equipment, Inc is conducting a survey of humidification methods and the applicability of Zorbix in those projects. Zorbix sheets are thin, reusable sheets that absorb up to 50 times their weight in water. Once water is absorbed into a sheet of Zorbix, the water can only be released as vapor–even under pressure. Zorbix can be placed directly on materials with no need for a vapor barrier such as Gore-Tex.
- Zorbix in action
Zorbix can be dampened all over and the sheet does not wick sideways, allowing the practitioner to apply water to a specific zone for humidification in one area such as a creased corner. With the rest of the Zorbix sheet dry, this creates an effective method for controlling humidification to one spot.
Volunteers will be given free samples of 10 inch x 12 inch Zorbix sheets to test in their humidification projects and will be asked to describe their current humidification methods, test Zorbix as a replacement material, compare their results and provide feedback to Artifex Equipment, Inc. on their experience. (feedback is requested by September 1, 2011)
If you would like participate in the study and receive free samples in exchange for your impressions of the product, please fill out the Survey Monkey version of the questionnaire at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/MZZK89H or request a Word version of the form by contacting Nicholas Yeager at 415-329-5809 or
nicholas.yeager [at] artifexequipment__com
“Conservation: Futures and Responsibilities” A new international conference for students and emerging conservators
16-17 September 2011
IIC is delighted to announce a new international conference for
students and emerging conservators. ‘Conservation: Futures and
Responsibilities’ will focus on the relationship between
conservation education and the actualities of conservation in
practice. Its aim will be to offer an international perspective and
to facilitate communication between students and emerging
conservators on the one hand and, on the other, professionals active
in the field of conservation in national institutions and museums as
well as in the private sector. The themes discussed will be
supported by visits to some of central London’s conservation
studios, at both not-for-profit cultural institutions and
conservation businesses.
The presentations will be held in the form of collaborative Live Web
Broadcasts, in IIC’s familiar Round Table format, which will allow
an international community of speakers and participants to join the
conference, either in person or on-line. Participants, including
those attending via the web, will be able to ask questions and join
in the debate.
IIC will be launching a new page with booking details very
shortly–keep an eye on
Graham Voce
Executive Secretary
International Institute for Conservation
of Historic and Artistic Works (IIC)
6 Buckingham Street
London WC2N 6BA
UK
+44 20 7839 5975
Fax: +44 20 7976 1564
Art, Color, and Gloss | Indianapolis Museum of Art Blog
Repost from Nicole Peters, IMA Scholar Objects & Variable Art Summer Intern.
http://www.imamuseum.org/blog/2011/07/13/art-color-and-gloss/
Special Academics-only pilot of the workshop, “Your Life as an Independent [Whatever].”
90% discount. 20 July to 9 August 2011.
I am pleased to announce that Research and Writing now offers a revised version of the popular online workshop, “Your Life as an Independent [Whatever].” Starting 20 July we will be piloting a special academics-only version of the course.
We’re looking for participants–recent PhDs, MAs or MFAs. You don’t have to be planning to establish a studio or clinical practice or a consulting business. You should believe that your job or job search would benefit if you knew more about being an independent professional.
You can participate in this new version for academics only for $30 — a 90% discount on the regular price.
Your Life. . . is a 3-week asynchronous workshop with additional opportunities for real-time meetings. Participants learn to describe their skills and expertise to strangers and identify potential clients or employers. We’ll also discuss the basic work-life issues of time management and budgeting.
You’ll find more information and link to a payment form at http://bit.ly/YL-Acad. Use discount code 11023.
Or contact Research and Writing: info@researchandwriting.net.
Promote Conservation during A DAY OF ARCHAEOLOGY on June 26
The increase in conservation project and archaeological excavation blogs has been a wonderful tool for promoting and informing the public and other professionals about our field. Do you want to promote your involvement in an archaeological project, but don’t want to set up a blog?
A Day of Archaeology on July 26, 2011 is an excellent method for public outreach and promotes preservation within archaeology. The goal of the project is to promote the various aspects of archaeology (including conservation) and to chronicle one day of activities.
For more information, see the website at http://www.dayofarchaeology.com/about-the-project/ Please consider submitting a short blog so we can enhance an understanding of what conservators do and how archaeological conservation contributes to a site.
AIC’s 39th Annual Meeting – Research and Technical Studies Session, June 1, “Data-Driven Decisions: The Use of Environmental Monitoring, Technical Analysis and Resource-Sharing at English Heritage” by Caroline Roberts
Caroline Roberts, a graduate fellow at the Winterthur/UDel Program in Art Conservation, was lucky enough to spend a summer working at English Heritage with David Thickett, a pillar in the specialty of preventive conservation. Cary shared her involvement with various projects from her internship. For an overwhelming 400+ properties, Thickett’s work emphasizes practicality, resource-sharing, and sustainability. Decisions for environmental monitoring and analysis are data-driven, and thereby, case-by-case. This sensible method identifies and address problems when and where they occur, rather than applying and managing a systematic approach to many, many sites. Cary highlighted sophisticated and simple technology used, such as radio transmitters for remote data access, as well as iButton loggers in a micro-environment. I was impressed by the fine level of the problems being addressed in EH’s projects: they suggested that the institution has a handle on general preventive conservation management.